What is the difference between dubstep, electronic, techno, and house music?

Dubstep - 140~ BPM. Drums are half-step. Very noticable sub-bass. House - 128~ BPM. Kick on every beat. Electro - 128~ BPM. Kick on every beat. More upbeat/energetic than house and tends to focus on the bassline more. Drum n Bass - 170-180 BPM. Fast drums and focused basslines. Drumstep - 170-180 BPM. Drum n Bass with half-step drums. Trance - 120-150 BPM. Very airy, moving feel. Tends to be uplifting. Hard Dance - Anything from 140 to 170 BPM. Hard  Dance on Monstercat is a bracket genre (like EDM) and ranges from  hardstyle to hardcore to hard trance. EDM - A bracket genre. Anything that isn't one of the above genres is put into this section. The majority of tracks in this section are Moombahton (105-115 BPM,  sounds like slowed down electro) and Glitch Hop (100 to 110 BPM,  syncopated rhythms). Sometimes, there will be Nu-Disco (120-130 BPM,  sounds like stuff from the 70s and 80s). via http://www.reddit.com/r/Monstercat/comments/16lika/can_someone_please_explain_to_me_the_difference/c7xdyhz

"Electronic music" is any music created with synthesizers, from Jean-Michel Jarre to Kraftwerk to Moby to Rotterdam Terror Corps. It isn't a genre. Neither is "EDM" (electronic dance music), this is a catch-all term for electronic music intended for dancing which was coined by music scholars (to differentiate music for dancing from electronic classical music) and has been being overused to death by American music journalists since around when I first wrote this answer (2013). House, techno and dubstep can all be called "electronic (dance) music".Nowadays, "dubstep" is understood to mean, like Ben Mordecai says, anything around 140bpm with half step drums and a lot of emphasis on bass. Originally it was a form of UK garage with less emphasis on vocals and more emphasis on space being the key thing, the signature rhythm and sub bass came a bit later on.There's a lot of cross-pollination between house and techno, to understand the difference it helps to go back to their origins. Techno was more of a futuristic movement which quickly became very minimalist, whereas house was an extension of disco into a more loop-based form. House is usually slower (between 120-130bpm), more likely to have vocals, and more soulful - techno nowadays is either very minimal, with little or no melody, very repetitive and introducing one element slowly at a time, or extremely energetic and fast. But in the 1980s, quite a lot of techno records sounded like house.

I just wanted to share this awesome collection and evolving map of genres and sub-genres. http://www.google.de/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftechno.org%2Felectronic-music-guide%2F&ei=EiRFU7q0LejNygPi8YHoCQ&usg=AFQjCNFlZ3VYxMWxIgOxRwkKd28C0C2mDA&bvm=bv.64507335%2Cd.bGQ

I'll just explain the three you've given:Also there's going to be a lot of examples XD i've been flicking through my record colelction.DUBSTEPDubstep is usually somewhere between 130-140 bpm, but mostly 140. The term is coined from the fusion of Jamaican style Dub music and 2-step.It's sub-genre of UK garage music so it's beats tend to be of a breakbeat 2-step style. The snare will either be on the 3rd beat OR the 2nd and 4th for that faster 90s Garage style.Heavy use of triplet rythms and cross-rythms. Drums will also probably sound highly compressed, tight and mixed to sound a little more 'spacey'.Older dubstep tends to be more relaxed with lots of sub bass, the wobble doesn't always appear in older styles. Newer dubstep has aggressive drums and wobbles and a 4-to-the-floor beat. Older dubstep sounds more 'shuffle' than newer which sounds more 'dance'.Some examples of classic Dubstep tunes ranging from oldschool to newschool:Ghost Rider - El-B (2007)Midnight Request Line - Skream (2005)Bass Cannon - Flux Pavilion (2011)Machine Gun - Noisia (2010)ELECTRONICRefers to any music with predominantly electronic instruments.TECHNOTechno is often characterised by a 4-to-the-floor beat although oldschool techno does contain breakbeats. Techno is typically 135-145 bpm.90s techno often has lots more percussion than synths and the main focus was rhythm. Modern techno tends to be more pop-influenced and melodic with simpler percussion.90s techno was a lot more 'futuristic' than today's techno. Modern techno is more melodic and pop-inspired. Examples ranging from old to new are below:Cybotron - Clear (1983)Chime - Orbital (1989)Kernkraft 400 - Zombie Nation (1999)Crazy. Sexy. Marvellous - Paffendorf (2002)HOUSEHouse also uses 4-to-the-floor beats like techno and also like techno, oldschool house contained more complex beats than modern house music. House music is normally 120-130 bpm.House music is more inspired by funk/disco if anything and sounds more 'groovy' than techno.Modern house has a more minimal feel to it with influences from modern electro.Examples below:Strings of Life - Rhythim is Rhithim (1987)Don't Stop - Ruff Driverz (1998)Killer - Starkillers (2008)Disclosure - Jaded (2015)

Had to share some excellent examples that Reddit userhttp://www.reddit.com/user/jofijk cited. Deep House: https://soundcloud.com/t-e-e-d/disclosure-f-for-you-totally Tech House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4zjPR5HjCg Techno: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WflVHf43E40 House: https://soundcloud.com/iamtchami/alunageorge-x-tchami-you-know Electro: https://soundcloud.com/lenno/rebirth I don't know if they mean actual Electro like the last track or if they're just abbreviating Electro House. If they are then here is an electro house track as well. Electro House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC5PSfRcvx8 Progressive House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOGIoqdpnYk Trance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCK_yrvKaz4 Drum and Bass (DNB): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW3dGB-vl8U Breaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrPo0qFp_0A Dubstep: https://soundcloud.com/seven-lions/royksopp-running-sevenlions-remix0-

Dubstep: the sound of your router, mixer and hair dryer combined. (Talking about new dubstep). Old dubstep was smooth and trippy, nice for chilling. Electronic: Rather experimental sound but not really for dancing. Very broad. It's basically everything that doesn't fit somewhere else. Techno: faster, colder, darker beats than house music, great for preparing for a zombie apocalypse. Not really created by a happy soul. Magnet for insecure hipsters. Often based on monotonous 2/4. very repetitive. House: talking about real house music which still exists today (just in an evolved form) is a broad mix from sweet uplifting, catchy tunes over slightly narcotic vibes with even a jazzy note up to native bush drum rhythms and timeless, spherical 15 minute masterpieces for a sunrise rave in the desert. House music is best for dancing, it's soulful, smooth, based on 4/4 between 115 and 125 bpm (tech house can have up to 130 bpm). It's just sexy and attracts the hottest girls out there. But either you feel it or you don't. No drugs needed if you feel it.

The other thing about dubstep is the "wobble bass" which sounds kind of like random hardcore buzzy bass rhythms...but is actually just the bass being toyed with with a low frequency oscillator.  I think that's the main characteristic of dubstep.  Dubstep is also a much newer genre than techno and house.  house and then techno came about in the 80's and are really the predecessors to the myriad of EDM that's around now. ----- Aaron Writing some articles for one of my blog on different genres - just fun little pieces - last one is: http://thirdoption.nquit.com/what-the-hell-is-house-music/

Speed is one thing (RPM), and tone family (instruments used also) which creates many different varieties of sound. Best way to find out is to have a listen. You can of course speed/slow these down to blend them with other types. Many songs can fall into an eclectic mix which is why it's good to experiment

Different tempos, different beat structures. Electronic is not really a genre but an umbrella terms. quite simply they are different genres. it's like asking the difference between rock and pop. Go and listen to examples of each and learn. but I wouldnt trust the first mix on youtube that comes up. go search in beatport for each. learn about each on wikipedia.